Reflections
by Storm Ruler
Summary: They say regret can cause the spirit to linger on this world after death. This is the story of how the Hero of Time became the Hero's Shade. Set after the events of Majora's Mask and Ocarina of Time


**Chapter 1**

Legend tells of a hero who traveled through time to save the kingdom of Hyrule from the brink of darkness itself. The legend goes on to say that after returning to the past, the hero left Hyrule in search of a close friend with whom he parted ways with after saving the kingdom. His search for this friend took him far from the land of Hyrule and into a land known as Termina.  
In this strange land time flowed differently than in Hyrule. Upon arriving, the hero was once again thrust in a situation where the fate of a land rested upon his shoulders. Needless to say the hero was successful in saving this land, but the flow of time took its effect upon him leaving. Gone was the young lad who left the Hyrule in search of his lost companion. In his place was now a battle hardened man who had yet to finish his quest. And so the now much older hero continued his journey and eventually found the friend he had spent years searching. After finding his long lost comrade, the hero told the stories of his adventures since they had last seen each other before telling the friend why he had spent so many years looking for her.

The hero had wanted nothing more than to say a proper goodbye. With that accomplished the hero at long last gave a smile. He was at peace for now, but with his journey complete he knew that he must return to Hyrule. Hyrule was his home and he was the hero destined to defend. Waving one last time, he left his companion of old, Navi and made his way back towards Hyrule. But the hero had no idea how much the kingdom of Hyrule had changed in the years he had been gone. Yes the hero had warned Zelda of the Ganondorf before he left, but fate has a funny way of doing things and the hero was about to find out how cruel yet funny fate could be.

_**The kingdom of Hyrule 7 years after the hero left:**_

__The forest was alive with sound of the Kokiri playing with their fairies and having a good time. They stayed in their part of the forest, protected from the evil that had plagued the rest of land for years by forces they could never comprehend. The great forest spirit, the Deku Tree and the Forest Sage Saria had managed to used their combined powers to hold of the dark powers that had corrupted the rest of the land. Their power was beginning to weaken however and at this rate it wouldn't be much longer until the darkness found a weak spot and then, the forest would be overtaken. Saria let out a sigh. Where had everything gone so wrong? She remembered all those years ago Zelda gathering her and all the other sages together and warning them of Ganondorf's impending invasion. They had all waited anxiously, but nothing had happened. Over a year passed and soon everyone began to think that the hero Zelda spoke of hadn't existed. Afterall Zelda had claimed the invasion by Ganondorf was imminent yet there hadn't been a single sign of Ganondorf doing anything out of the ordinary.  
It was at that point that everyone decided that by going back in time, the hero had altered fate and that Ganondorf would most likely never invade Hyrule. They couldn't have been more wrong. Ganondorf had managed to retain his memories and used this to his advantage. He had followed the hero to the strange land of Termina and watched as the hero left after defeating the mighty demon Majora. He watched as the boy left Termina and contemplated killing him but decided against it. Killing the hero wouldn't be fun. No, he wanted the hero to suffer for causing him such a humiliating defeat. In his eyes, destroying the kingdom the hero sought so hard to protect was the best way to do that. And so it was while the hero continued to search for Navi, that Ganondorf built a huge army consisting of the Gerudos, the Garos and remnants of the Ikana Canyon tribals. After building this army Ganondorf marched upon Hyrule causing death and destruction in his wake. The hero still on his journey at this point was called upon by the people to save them. He never answered though and soon the people started to believe he had abandoned them.

Saria knew that the people were wrong. The hero, Link wouldn't abandon them. She had hoped so desperately they were wrong but now she wasn't so sure. After 3 years of Ganondorf waging war on Hyrule and destroying everything in his path, Saria's faith in Link was beginning to waiver. Perhaps he had abandoned them after all. Saria was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard the sounds of the Kokiri change from happiness to curiosity. Wondering what could have possibly gotten the forest children so worked she made her way out of the Sacred Meadow and back towards the main part of the forest.

Link wandered around the Lost Woods looking for any sign of something that seemed familiar to him. He knew he was close to being back home to Hyrule, but it had been so long since he had been in the forest that He couldn't remember the way out. Sighing he sat down on a large rock and laid his sword and shield down on the ground beside him. He ran his hands through his long blonde hair and for the first time in years, thought about what he would say to his friends when he saw them again. He had left without notice to anyone, stealing away in the night feeling it was for the best. He didn't want his friends worrying about him while he was out on what they would call a fool's errand. How long had it been since he left? He knew that it had to be years but it felt like only yesterday that he had arrived in Termina only to be greeted by the insanity of the demon Majora. His body gave a slight tremble as he remembered all the horrible things Majora did to him and the Terminian people.  
Ganondorf may have been evil but Majora, was the essence of darkness itself. Link was only able to defeat Majora with the help of a mask that Majora had insisted he wear when it came time for the final battle. Fierce Deity is what Majora had called the mask. Not knowing the power the mask held Link had put it on and the was almost consumed by the mask. How he managed to keep control, he still didn't know but he had been able to defeat Majora and that was all that mattered. After the battle the odd mask salesman had wanted the mask but Link ultimately decided he felt the mask was safest with him. If someone else got ahold of this mask who knows what destruction they might wrought with it.

Returning back to his present thoughts, he searched his mind for the right words to say, but nothing seemed appropriate. Perhaps it would be better if he said nothing at all and let them talk first. Then he would be able to gauge the situation and respond with the right words. A smile graced his face as he decided this was the best course of action. He picked up his sword and shield and started to make his way away from the rock he had been resting on when a he heard the voice of what he knew was a Kokiri.

" Mister what are you doing in the woods? Didn't you know adults aren't allowed in the woods? The Deku tree is going to be upset when he finds out an adult is in the forest. Please come with me mister, I don't want to have to hurt you." the young Kokiri boy stated.

Link let out a small chuckle. The young Kokiri had courage and Link liked that. Courage alone though did not make one a warrior and Link could easily beat the child in combat. The Kokiri knew the forest though and Link could use this to his advantage.

"Very well. Lead the way. I don't know my way through the forest." Link responded.

"If you don't know you're way through the forest why did you come here then?" The boy asked confused by the grown man's words.

"It doesn't matter. A child like you would never understand. Just lead the way to our destination." Link replied.

"Okay mister. You sure are weird though. We will be going to the Great Deku Tree. He is the master of the forest. He is the one that makes all the rules. Since you have violated a rule he will be the one to decide what your punishment is!" The boy exclaimed.  
Nodding in understanding Link followed the boy as he made his way through the woods. Soon they arrived in Deku Tree's domain and were surrounded by the other Kokiri. The Kokiri rarely saw adults and thus their curiosity got the better of them. Soon the clearing was alive with voices and much like how Saria had noticed, the Deku Tree also took notice of the commotion as well.  
Saria arrived in the clearing was shocked to see an adult standing in the middle of the clearing. The said adult was dressed in a strange golden armour that clearly was of a foreign design. The sword he carried in his left hand was clearly made by a master smith and had an almost ethereal glow to it. His shield was mesmerising and seemed to reflect any light that hit it, causing it give off sparkling appearance. What caught Saria off guard was his striking resemblance to a much older version of Link. How was this possible? Link had been child of the forest like them, or so she thought. Needing to confirm her suspicions, she walked towards the man and the other Kokiri and stopped almost right in front of them. This did not go unnoticed by the adult and when he saw her his breath caught in his throat.

Standing in front of him was childhood friend Saria. Link had no idea what to say and his plan to let his friends talk first faded from his mind. Fear took hold of the hero as he hoped his friends would forgive for being gone so long. Not knowing what else to do he knelt down on one knee in front of Saria and began to speak. Needless to say his sudden caused the rest of the Kokiri to freak out even more.

"Saria, it's been a long time since we last spoke. I'm sorry for everything. I should have told everyone I was leaving but I didn't want to be convinced to stay. I had to say my goodbye to Navi. I couldn't do that by staying here when the fairies and their masters don't reside in Hyrule. I'm assuming much has changed since I've been gone. It would be nice to catch up with you but your fellow Kokiri have decided I must face the Deku Tree for violating his rule of not allowing adults into the forest." Link stated.

Tears streamed from Saria's eyes as smile ran across her face. Link hadn't abandoned them after all. Perhaps there was still some hope for them to defeat Ganondorf. Running towards him, Saria threw her arms around the now much taller Link and let her tears of happiness flow freely.

"Link everyone thought you had abandoned us. I'm guessing you haven't heard about everything that's happened since you were gone." She said quietly.

"No I haven't but I'm sure you and the Great Deku Tree will give me the details. After that we can figure out what to do from there. When I was away, I heard a saying from someone I met that I didn't think much of at the time but now it comes to mind. This person told me that the work of a hero is never done. It seems they were right." Link claimed.

With that said Saria and the other Kokiri along with Link made their way to the Deku Tree's clearing.

6


End file.
